| Entrepreneurship Week (E Week) India, an initiative of National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), today culminated at a grand closing ceremony in Bangalore. E Week India, a weeklong public awareness campaign, aimed at celebrating the opportunities in today's India and improving the ecosystem for entrepreneurship in the country, was celebrated from February 2 - February 9, 2008.
Spread across 30 cities and towns in India, this second E Week India had participation from about 2,00,000 across the country, doubling that of last year. During the week more than 2500 entrepreneurship events and activities were hosted demonstrating extraordinary entrepreneurial energy amongst students from across the country. Over 50,000 people took the E Week India 2008 nation-wide 'Pledge' to support entrepreneurship in India.
The grand finale held at St. John auditorium in Bangalore was a high voltage event that charged the 600 strong audience with a fusion of entertainment with enlightenment. Emotions ran high as top institutions across the country vied for the prestigious EWeek India Championship Awards. To add to the festivities was a fashion show by student designers of Mount Carmel College, and a dazzling dance performance by Nritarutya.
Leading the Pledge at the grand finale was celebrated entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon. Sharing her vision she said, "
Other eminent guests included Chander Baljee, chairman and MD, Royal Orchid Hotels Ltd; Kanwaljeet Singh, co-founder and MD, Helion Venture Partners; Pradeep Kar, founder chairman and MD, Microland, Vijay Kirloskar, Chairman and MD, Kirloskar Electric Company Ltd., Fashion Designer, Namrata G, Sanjay and Yashodhara Shroff of Ffolio
Laura Parkin, Executive Director NEN, said, "The official closing of E Week is not an end; it is a beginning, a continuation. This week, the students have shown us the true spirit of entrepreneurship that reigns in their hearts. Their energy, dedication and creativity; the support of their Directors, Chairman, faculty; the engagement of entrepreneurs and investors: these things do not end with the close of E Week, but will continue to build through the coming months, to be celebrated nationally again next year, during the third E Week India. To quote the motto of E Week: Together, We Can. We Will."
The highlight of the evening was the much awaited Championship Awards which were bagged by 7 institutes for their enthusiasm, engagement and extraordinary effort. This year's Champions included NSHM Knowledge Campus, Kolkata; Mount Carmel College, Bangalore; IPS Academy, Indore; PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore; Bengal College of Engineering and Technology, Durgapur; St. Joseph's College, Bangalore and Sri Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore.
In addition, 7 institutes were declared Runners Up and 18 institutes made the E Week Honor Roll. The outstation winners were flown in to Bangalore to receive their awards. For everyone else there were stunning images of E Week from across India.
EWeek 2008 saw thousands of students across the country participating in an array of fun, experiential and knowledge-building activities, including 'creativity in constraints' games and competitions, panel discussions and knowledge sharing sessions with experts, business plan and skill building workshops, awareness rallies, business and tech bazaars, entrepreneurship film screenings, industry visits, mentoring sessions, live case studies and leadership and motivation talks by successful entrepreneurs.
NEN co-hosted E Week 2008 with over 270 member colleges from across the country along with entrepreneur support associations such as TiE, IVCA, IAN, Proto.in and Dare. E Week 2008 was supported by corporate sponsors including HSBC, Himalaya and Symphony Services.
Reflections and stories of E Week India 2008 from across India can be obtained on www.eweekindia.org.
About NEN
National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) is a not-for-profit initiative of the Wadhwani Foundation working to inspire, educate and support the younger generation of entrepreneurs. Currently NEN is working with more than 295 top-tier academic institutes reaching over 3 lakh young people across 30 cities of India. The organization was co-founded in 2002 by leading Indian institutes, including IIT-Bombay, IIM-Ahmedabad, BITS Pilani, SP Jain and IBAB. NEN's advisory board includes eminent experts such as Kiran Mazumdar Shaw - Biocon; Naina Lal Kidwai - HSBC; Arun Seth - British Telecom and Prof Howard Stevenson - Harvard Business School to name a few.
Media contacts
Babit Batra
Manager, Strategic Communications
National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN)
E Mail: babit[at]nenglobal.org
Ms. Shruti Upadhyay /
Ms. Subhashini Pattabhiraman
Text 100
Phone: 080 25548808-11
E Mail 1: shrutiu[at]text100.co.in
E Mail 2: subhashinip[at]text100.co.in
|
